Al, the Lake Oconee Bass Club member who went with to Jackson with me, came in third in his club last Saturday there. He placed by catching one bass, and he caught it on a place he showed me, not one I showed him! He started on a rocky point near a dock that he likes to fish and landed a keeper almost immediately. It was the only one he caught.
That afternoon at weigh-in one fisherman had five pounds and won their club. There were just a few caught by the club. Another club weighing in at the same time had even worse luck and it took only four pounds to win it.
Exception Proves The Rule
Just to show bass do bite in the cold water, if you are in the right place at the right time, Al said a guy walked up, watched their weigh-in and then asked if he could weigh his five best bass. Five best! Although not a club member they let him and he had five bass weighing 13.5 pounds! I think that was more than all the fish weighed in by either club. That is the exception that proves the rule, I guess.
At Sinclair the water was a little warmer from the discharge at the power plant. That is why the bass bit better - or maybe there were just better fishermen there. On Saturday one team in a tournament weighed in almost 15 pounds of bass to win. On Sunday after the cold front went through Saturday night another big tournament was won with eight pounds - better than Jackson but only about half the weight from the day before.
At Bartlett’s Ferry 15 Spalding County Sportsman Club members fished seven hours and weighed in a total of five bass! After the rain all afternoon Saturday, Sunday morning was cold and clear. We had to be careful on the dock at the ramp because it had ice on it, and the mist hitting my boat froze on the gunnels when I put in. That is very slippery and dangerous.
Carson and I took a nice cold ride about 7 miles to a bridge and started fishing - when we quit shivering! My temperature gauge showed 48.1 degrees - just barely warm enough to give me some hope. We started throwing spinnerbaits and crankbaits, hoping for a somewhat active bass.
